THE recent artists’ postcards fundraising event held at Wells & Mendip Museum from February 20-22 was a resounding success.
The sale of postcard-sized artworks raised more than £5,000 and showcased the generosity of local artists who donated original work and all those in the community who bid to buy it. The event was a partnership between the Museum and Wells Rotary and brought together residents, local businesses, artists and history enthusiasts over three days to view the work and bid in a silent auction.
On the final evening there was a lively reception which featured a hammer auction for some selected artworks. All funds raised will go to support the Museum’s work.
Housed in a Grade II listed building on Cathedral Green at the heart of the city, it serves as an educational resource, a cultural hub, and a testament to the heritage of the ordinary people of Wells.
The Museum’s exhibits, which span from prehistoric times to the present day, offer visitors an insight into ancient artefacts discovered by Museum founder, Herbert Balch in the Mendip caving system as well as an immersive experience of modern caving.
The new city galleries, enabled by the National Heritage Lottery Fund, highlight stories of the ordinary people of the city and illustrate events and places that have shaped them.
Its next major exhibition project is a Roman gallery, drawing on the importance of lead mining on Mendip for the whole of the Roman Empire and bringing together finds made by Herbert Balch in Wookey Hole at the beginning of the 20th century with recent 21st century discoveries made by community archaeologists in Charterhouse and Westbury-sub-Mendip.
A Museum spokesperson said that funds raised from the art sale will enable it to continue to develop its programme, working in partnership with other cultural and heritage organisations in the community, preserving the past and enriching the future of the city of Wells.